From Whence We Came
by WE ARE KARKAT
Summary: Mello and Near are forced to take a car trip together to find their ancestral homes. What will they find, and what are these new feelings they are developing? YAOI! reviews plz    :D
1. Mello

Yeah, okay. I'll admit that whenever I'm mad or depressed I find Near and beat up on him. It's just so fun! He takes it, and I know he's too stuck up to tell

anyone. Lately though it just makes me madder. Yeah I can beat him up of course, and he lets me do it, but that's the problem. I like it when they scream or cry

or run. Maybe I even like it when they fight back. But that stupid kid just goes limp and lets me punch and push and slap him. I even break the shit he leaves

lying around on his floor, ripping up cards, plowing through domino castles, and crushing those stupid ass robots. He just waits, staring at me blankly and

waiting for my unreasonable rage to subdue. It's stopped being funny or enjoyable. Now it's just a force of habit. Whatever. I can't just stop now. Near will

notice.


	2. The project

Mello storms into Near's playroom. Without looking up, Near asks in a monotone. "Has Mello come to break my toys and make me bleed again?" He doesn't

even say this sarcastically. He's asking a legitimate question. "Shut up sheep." He snaps moodily, pushing the smaller teen to the floor. "Mister Frye is making

us do some lame-ass school project together. Pack enough of your shit to last for a week. We're taking a field trip." He snarls spitefully. "May I ask the details of

said project?" Near asks, pulling himself up and tugging at his white hair. "We have to go visit our first home." Mello answers quietly. "Is Mello referring to our

orphanages?" Mello kicks at Near, and his boot toe connects with the target's left shin. Near doesn't even flinch." No. _Mello_ does not mean the orphanages."

He says back, mocking Near's odd dialect. He looks down at his feet then, fingering the rosary around his neck. "I mean they tracked down our birth homes

Near. They're making us go see them." Near peers up at Mello. His grey eyes are wide and piercing. "Why?" He asks, sounding lost and small. "Fuck. I don't

know." Mello stoops to pick up a toy robot. and aims at Near. Near's eyes are, for the first time that Mello has ever seen, filled with emotion. He hesitates,

then puts the robot gently down on the albino's lap. Near looks up, pretending to feel nothing, but it's too late. Mello already saw him. "Pussy." he spits

halfheartedly. Near's dark eyes blur and begin to fill with tears. "Shit. Hey. Um... I didn't mean to- _Goddammit!_" Mello finishes, kicking a domino across the

room in frustration. He slumps down beside him, dropping his strawberry blonde head into his leather-clad hands. A tear spills over Near's white cheek. The

blonde looks at him. He wipes Near's shining cheeks with the cloth fingertips of his leather gloves. Near takes this as an unspoken okay, and flings himself

upon Mello, wrapping pale arms around the skinny waist and nuzzling into Mello's chest. Mello bristles and holds very still, as if the boy is a wasp crawling up

his bare arm. Near looks up, eyes full of hurt, and Mello loosens up, wrapping Near's fragile frame in a leathery hug. The cross around his neck falls on Near's

white head, shining silver through his hair. They stay like this for a few minutes, the boy in white crying softly in the arms of the boy in black (although neither

of them were quite sure why). When the younger teen's sobbing had subdued, and he gave a final shuddery breath, they disentangled. Mello's face

hardened back into the scowl, and the pink receded from Near's cheeks and eyes, leaving his face as pale and emotionless as usual. "This never happened

Near. You hear me?" Mello barked. Near nodded, unreadable as usual. "Good. Pack your shit up and meet me out front." He growled, leaving the room and

taking care to slam the door hard behind him.


	3. The car

"Mello was given directions I presume?" Near asks quietly, struggling to lift his white suitcase into the trunk of Mello's black minivan. "No shit."

"Which home are we going to first?" The ginger-blonde swallows dryly. "Mine. It's about an eight hour drive. From there, yours is ten hours in the same direction."

"Alright. Mello?"

"What?" He snaps. "I'm afraid." Mello looks down at Near, who is sitting on the asphalt at his feet. "Oh yeah? That's a new one. Why?" He asks, sneering mockingly. "I don't know yet honestly." Mello says nothing. He isn't sure what he should say. He decides on a biting remark-"Don't be a dumbass."- and a kick to Near's back. "Get in the van. The sooner we leave, the sooner we get back."


	4. Sleepy

Near yawns, closing his eyes and stretching, catlike. They've driven about five hours so far, and it's 10:12 pm. The first yawn triggers a second one from Mello, who swerves a little when his eyes close. "Is Mello sleepy?" The smaller teen asks groggily, squeezing the stuffed rabbit that was pressed to his chest. _Strange, _Mello thinks, _How he's only a little younger than me, but he acts nine or ten. _He begins to think about how cute Near looks, clutching at that toy. _Oh no. I did NOT just have that thought about Near!_ He assures himself uneasily. "You yawned first." Mello accused, "Mine was just a chain reaction." He snaps at the albino in the passenger seat. "Okay." Near suddenly shivers violently, pulling the soft rabbit tighter to him and curling into a ball. "Hey, you cold? The heater's broken. Why didn't you bring a coat stupid?" Mello asks worriedly of the shivering boy. "I'm fine." Near gasps, although he's obviously freezing. "Yeah, right. We'll stop at a hotel so you can rest and get warm." The ginger says, rolling his blue eyes. It starts to snow. Near breathes on the window and draws a rabbit with his long white finger. Mello's insides prickle, and a smile stretches his thin lips. _Why am I smiling?_ He turns, blushing a bit, and hoping the boy in the passenger seat didn't see.


	5. Shivering

Mello swerves into the holiday inn parking lot, swearing mildly as he barely avoids grazing a Porsche. He pulls the key roughly from the ignition, scowling at the dashboard. "Get out sheep." He snarls crankily, shoving Near into the side of the door. It's snowing hard, and while Mello has layers of leather, Near only has a white shirt and sweatpants. His tennis shoes are thin. He obeys the ginger's command however, opening the door and hopping out. He gasps at the cold, breathing deeply. His breath makes a transparent white halo of fog above his shaggy head, and his tiny frame is already wracked with sporadic shivers. It's the best he can do to keep a hand wrapped around the rabbit's cloth waist. Mello hesitates, sighs, and closes the door for Near. He opens the trunk, retrieving both suitcases. He hoists them up on one shoulder, straining his wiry muscles to lift both cases with one hand. Then, without warning, he snatches Near up by the waist, and balances him on his hip. Near tucks himself under Mello's leather, and his shivers become fewer and fewer as they trudge wordlessly through the snowy lot.


	6. The hotel

Mello puts the smaller teen down hastily when they get inside, shooting him a nasty look that means: "Tell anyone and you die a painful death". He buys a room key from a fat blonde with a southern accent, and they head to the elevator. On the way there, Near sleepily tries to take Mello's hand. "Fuck off." The ginger snarls, without even looking down. Near leaves him alone. The interior of the elevator seems to interest the albino. He examines the buttons and peers through the crack in the door, even drops his head to the floor and listens to the ghostly elevator noises emanating from the shaft- until Mello slaps the back of his head hard in annoyance. Floor 6, they get off. Near trips over the wheels on his white suitcase a few times in the hallway. They reach the room, and Mello presses the card down into the door slot. The red light turns green, and it beeps softly once. Near slips in- _through Mello's legs_- and runs into the room. His white head had brushed the inside of Mello's upper thigh, and to his surprise, he felt his pants get a fraction tighter. He looks down in horror. _Oh dear God no. Don't let me be attracted to the little shit! He's my worst enemy! This can't be happening!_ He thinks, panicking. He takes deep breaths, calming down and clearing his mind. His black jeans loosen again, and he sighs in relief. _I'm going to pretend that didn't happen._


End file.
